David Blair became Chief Foreign Correspondent of the Daily Telegraph in November 2011. He previously worked for the paper as Diplomatic Editor, Africa Correspondent and Middle East Correspondent.

Mugabe unravels democracy

Robert Mugabe has finally thought about who might succeed him. Predictably enough, the 83-year-old dictator has decided that such an important matter cannot be left to the Zimbabwean people. At present, if the president resigns or dies in office, an election must be held within 60 days to choose his successor.

Zimbabwe is a nation run by octogenarians

Mugabe has introduced a constitutional amendment allowing parliament which is dominated by his Zanu-PF lapdogs to make this choice instead of the electorate.

But if, heaven forbid, Mugabe were to die in office, there would still have to be an interim leader before parliament could choose his successor. This would be Zimbabwe's First Vice-President, Joseph Msika. Astonishingly, Msika is one of the few Zimbabweans who is even older than Comrade Mugabe. Msika, 84, is only a heartbeat away from the presidency. Is there any other country in the world where an octogenarian leader would choose an even more elderly octogenarian as Vice-President?